VIDEO: Hawley’s DocFest film at Chatsworth

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Published:15:14Monday 09 June 2014

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Richard Hawley fans are about to fall in love with his latest work in the romantic grounds of Chatsworth House - the soundtrack to new film, Love Is All.

It will get its premiere at Sheffield DocFest with an outdoor screening in the grounds of the stately home on Wednesday (June 11, 2014).

Richard Hawley

Love Is All: 100 Years of Love and Courtship takes viewers on a journey through love on film in the 20th century.

Sheffield singer songwriter Hawley has written new material and contributed other tracks to form the stunning music for the film.

From the very first kisses ever caught on film, through the disruption of war to the birth of youth culture, gay liberation and free love, it follows courting couples flirting at tea dances, kissing in the back of the movies, shacking up and fighting for the right to love.

This is the celluloid story of love and courtship since the birth of the movie camera; told with spellbinding footage from the British Film Institute archive, Yorkshire Film Archive and more.

Chatsworth House grounds will screen Love Is All: 100 Years of Love and Courtship, featuring a soundtrack by Richard Hawley, on Wednesday, June 11.

The film, commissioned by BBC North, BBC Storyville and the BFI, produced by Crossover and Lone Star, gets its premiere as a highlight of Sheffield DocFest.

The Everly Pregnant Brothers and Hot Soles will take to the stage to play a pre-screening set on Wednesday, June 11.

For tickets, plus more about Sheffield DocFest, see below.

We asked Love Is All director Kim Longinotto about creating a film from a collection of archives, lovingly edited by edited by Ollie Huddleston and working with Richard Hawley:

Q: Did you find creating a film from archive footage a challenge compared to more traditional character led stories when making docs?

A: Actually it was pure pleasure. I always think that the editing part is the most pleasurable bit of making a film - I really enjoy working with Ollie (Huddleston) & it’s such magic seeing a film take shape. This time it was intriguing as of course we hadn’t seen any of the footage so it was a journey of discovery. It was extraordinary to watch archive film coming to life with Richard Hawleys’s intimate and emotional songs and often see a new meaning emerge.

Q: The Yorkshire Film Archive were one of the footage partners for the film, did you find any gems when working with love stories from this region?

A: Graham Relton at the Yorkshire film archive was amazing. I had a long conversation with him about the film (he’s a great listener) and then a couple of weeks later he sent us an absolute feast of archive that was exactly what we needed. He’d really thought it all through carefully. The clips he sent us were often very personal and affectionate and had been filmed by the families themselves. They were like early home movies but they were beautifully made. He also sent us lovely archive of people on the street, at work and relaxing. Recently, I’ve called him at the last minute asking for specific things and he’s always managed to find them for us.

Q: Can you tell us about some of your favourite moments in the film?

A: I love the way that Richard’s music creates a new kind of reality and suddenly the people looking out at you from the past seem so contemporary and vivid. Jan Faull found so many unexpected gems in the BFI archive for us too. One of my favorite moments is a little girl in a village school being crowned May Queen. Also Piccadilly is an amazing film. It stars Anna May Wong who I’d never even heard of. She is spectacular and the acting is mostly very understated and truthful. I always assumed that silent actors hammed it up a bit.

Q: How did you find having a score composed for the film by Richard Hawley - an artist whose songs often have the theme of love at their core?

A: Richard Hawley has been a bit of a revelation for me. He’s an all-round fabulous person and really inspiring to work with. Ollie and I have been living with his music for 7 weeks and we’ve grown to love it. We thought that having lyrics might be a problem but they really fit the images perfectly. One song “It’s Over Love” is genius. It about the power of love but also the pain of it being lost - it works so well with the scene that Ollie has set it to.

* Love Is All: 100 Years of Love & Courtship at Chatsworth is on Wednesday, June 11. Doors 6pm, band 8pm and film, 9.30pm. Tickets £15 each, or £25 with coach transfer from Plug, Sheffield. Picinc hampers, £15 per person, also available. Full details www.the-plug.com.

More than 100 inspirational documentary features and shorts will be shown during the 21st annual Sheffield Doc/Fest, including world premiers, with 3,000 delegates and 20,000 members of the public encouraged along, from Saturday, June 7 to Thursday, June 12.